Pick-up trucks of different sizes are used to transport goods and merchandise from one place to another. Typically, a loading bed in the pick-up truck, surrounded by side walls, is configured to hold items for transportation. The tailgate can be rotated from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position, and back from the horizontal open position to the vertical closed position. Generally, when the tailgate is opened and brought to the horizontal open position, a gap is formed between the loading bed and the tailgate. This gap or cavity can catch items while loading and unloading goods. Many times, a pick-up truck is used to carry granular material, such as sand, gravel, and stones. The loose material often collects and accumulates in the gap when loading and unloading the granular material. The accumulated material in the gap can form an obstruction that makes it difficult to close the tailgate. Further, if the material is rocky, or is any other rigid material, closing the tailgate with the material in the gap might damage the tailgate and the loading bed. Therefore, the material in the gap needs to be removed every time an operator loads or unloads the goods from the loading bed.
Various conventional solutions have attempted to solve the problem mentioned above. One such solution covers the gap with a piece of flexible material, where one end of the piece is attached to the tailgate, and the other end is attached to the bed assembly. However, this can cause other problems. For example, if the material used for the gap cover is too flexible, the gap cover tends to sink down into the gap over time, thus only temporarily solving the problem it was intended to permanently alleviate. Further, if the gap cover material is too rigid, it can cause an obstruction to the movement of the tailgate from the vertical closed position to the horizontal open position. Another solution uses a flap covering the gap between the tailgate and the loading bed, the flap being connected to either the tailgate or the loading bed. But the flap forms a hump while the tailgate is in the open position, thus creating a problem in loading/unloading items. Some other conventional solutions use multiple flat panels positioned between the tailgate and the bed. The panels are attached to both the tailgate and the loading bed. However, in such cases, it takes a lot of time to detach the tailgate from the loading bed of the pick-up truck. Further, all of these flat panels need to be completely detached to remove the tailgate from the loading bed of the pick-up truck.
Considering the problems mentioned above, and other shortcomings in the art, a need exists for a structure that can be mounted between the tailgate and the loading bed of a pick-up truck, to prevent debris from accumulating in the gap, without causing hindrance to the movement of the tailgate between the closed and open positions.